We Gave You Strict Orders To Stop Teaching In That Name, Did We Not?

Today's Lectionary Readings

The apostles kept preaching the good news about Jesus Christ and stuck together as a band of missioners even when threatened by the Sanhedrin.

Our resolve should be as great, but manytimes we surrender to popular thinking or criticism and give up when faithful discipleship becomes difficult.

However tiring it may be to defend Pope Benedict from outrageous charges, especially when the threat that doing so may seem to condone molesting children, we must persevere in his defence and condemn wrongdoing at the same time. The latest outrageous plan by some in Britain to arrest our pope when he travels there for "crimes against humanity" would be ludicrous if they were not also fueled by hate-filled invective.

Let us pray for the pope and our church.